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AIDS treatment advances forget children

    JOHANNESBURG

    Paediatric AIDS care experts are concerned that HIV-positive children in sub-Saharan Africa are not benefiting from the "enormous strides" made in treating HIV-positive adults.

    According to Richard Marlink, the scientific director for treatment and care at Elizabeth Glaser's Paediatric AIDS Foundation, children often do not benefit from treatment advances made for adults because the disease works differently in children. Most medications are not made into paediatric formulas and have few dosing guidelines.

    Canada's Globe and Mail quoted Marlink as saying: "Kids are not on the radar screen; they're not even thought of."

    Of the more than three million HIV-positive children worldwide, approximately 2.8 million live in sub-Saharan Africa. Globally, more than 1,400 children die of AIDS-related causes every day.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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